Funny thing I have been a Lutheran for 30 years now and I have never heard the quote that rests atop this piece. Probably reflects on the fact that I came late to the faith and didn't do the two years of weekly catechism class my kids did. I probably didn't get the assigned reading list and for the life of me I struggle still to make the sign of the cross appropriately. But the quote seems consistent with the mindset of the old German Lutherans. Despite Garrison Keillor's dour depiction of Lutherans there is a thread found among members of the faith that by acting with hope that tomorrow can be changed for the good.
Over the next few days I have immense amounts of work to do for the tasks I perform both at my job and for the work I do in the community. Truth be told I should be using this computer right this very moment to be creating questions for interviewing candidates for the position of Superintendent of Schools. But earlier this year I had made myself a promise that I would write and would do so regularly. I have been searching for a way to get myself into the habit and this prompt, of which I am using a 30 day free trial, is working for me. This is day three. I hope there will be work on day four.
If you have any interest the site is called http://750words.com/ . The prompt simply asks you to just write until you hit that magic number and then it tells you things about the writing which various algorithms disaggregate. 750 Words will let you know who much of you have written is egocentric (in my case that is virtually everything). The programming will tell you have positive commentary in your writing style is (in my case not so much). 750 will compare what you write to what others are writing vis a vis tone and speed and complexity. I am slow but by far I am not the slowest.
What is my hope, love, respect, honor, wealth? If truth be told not so much. Most days I hope for levity, small pieces and bits. Today hope came through for me. Each day the UPS delivery person comes into our office space. He seems to have a fascination with our soon to be retired clerical technical. They talk for about 10 minutes most days. The gent whose name I have been told but don't remember is really a nice person. He looks like he should be a dullard and in some ways his speech would imply that the looks are reliable. Case in point his arms are filled with tattoos seem very detailed and very excessive.
But this driver is not a dullard. He loves to travel. He loves to explore. We have talked about museums in Chicago, Toronto and Philadelphia. We have talked about politics. While he carries himself with the demeanor of a man of the street his mind is active and engaged and he is a good person.
It turns out that he is an animal lover too. I found this tidbit out by accident. Two doors down from me there live a couple named Leigh and Chris, attorney and professor. They own two dogs that are the howlingest things ever. The dogs look like a cross between an Irish setter and some shinny coated water dog. Did I mention that every time I set out for a walk in the neighborhood these mirror image ruddy colored beasts run from the back of their yard to the front falling over each other as if in a cartoon, baying and flaying right up until that hit the edge of the invisible fence. For the whole time I am walking in their eyesight/range of hearing it is HOOOOWWWL. WOOF. BARK. MUCH MORE HOOOOOWL.
Well this morning I got out of the car to get a cup of decaffeinated coffee at my nearby coffee shop (read Biggby’s). Stepping out and closing my door what do I hear? Yup it is the baying of the hounds close as sin for I can even smell their doggie breaths, HOOOOOWLLL, Woof, etc. etc. I get into the coffee shop and I am standing behind my neighbor. Laughing I say to Chris that I thought I had left the Baskervilles behind. He smiles, "You know they are good natured dogs don't you?" I nodded yes. He then told me everyone loves 'em the UPS guy brings them treats every day. I smiled to myself. Ah hah! You see I know who services the area for UPS, my office delivery person.
Today when the UPS driver came in I walked up to him and said “Where are the Milkbones?” He gave me a puzzled look. Our clerical tech gave me a WTF look. I continued, I know you have doggie treats. He asks why would you think that? I said the two hounds at the coffee shop told me this morning that each day when you make a run through my neighborhood you give 'em the bone. He just busts out laughing. Slowly he pulled a bag of doggie treats from his pocket. He then mentions that he had forgotten I lived two doors down from the hounds. (Easy to do nobody sends me packages).
So I got a laugh today by forcing a delivery driver to show me his soft spot for the hounds. I got a little joy and shared a little joy. It was clear he found joy in talking about his love of those dogs. Yeah hope counts. It wasn't planting an apple tree but it was human interaction on a meaningful level. Sometimes that is enough.
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